Guestbooks and You

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How to manage your guestbook settings.

Guestbooks are great tools for your lens. They let you get great feedback from readers, ask questions, run conversations, ask for help, collect links, and any other fun thing you'd like them to do.

If you're looking for some help managing the settings on your guestbooks and approving comments, you're in the right place!

[Mailbox image used under Creative Commons from mrjoro.]

November 2009 Guestbook Upgrades 

Wowzahs! We've upgraded guestbooks with some awesome new features.



Previously, users could reply to a specific person, but their answer could be anywhere on the list. Now we've added threading to make specific conversations easier to identify. Plus, readers who aren't Squidoo members can log in with their Twitter or Facebook details to ensure non-anonymous participation.



Here's a short list of what you're now getting:



Excited puppy courtesy of edanley and a Creative Commons license.
  • An option for Squidoo lensmaster-only commenting (with inline login). Not new, but improved.
  • Commenting login via Twitter and FacebookConnect. Even if your readers aren't logged in Squidoo lensmasters, they can still comment easily in your Guestbook module, with credibility and non-anonymity, via Twitter and Facebook connect.
  • Threaded comments and improved design.
  • An option for readers to follow new Guestbook comments by email. Have you ever commented on a really great lens, or in an especially heated or interesting Guestbook, and wished you could easily know when someone replied there? Now you can, if you choose to follow a Guestbook by email. You can easily unsubscribe from the module when you've had enough. (NB: The person who owns the Guestbook and the lens can choose to approve comments first, so no bad comments get emailed to those following).
  • An option for a reader to Tweet, Facebook or email his comment. This means if you get people talking on your lens, and if they in turn share their comments outward, you get new, relevant people visiting your lens and joining the conversation.
  • (December 2009) A more streamlined, consistent design.

First, set up a guestbook module 

Of course, in order to have guestbook comments you'll have to set up a guestbook. You'll find the guestbook module in the first tab of the Module Picker. It's a handy way to collect comments about your lens, or get questions answered about specific topics.

Here are the default settings in a guestbook module 

The default guestbook module settings

Then, decide which options you want 

There are six main sections on the guestbook where you can decide how you want comments to be processed.
  • Who do you want commenting?
    You can choose to let anyone (yup, ANYone) comment on your lens, or restrict it only to Squidoo members who are logged in. (If you let anyone comment, you can't ban blurbers who aren't logged in.)
  • When should their blurbs be approved?
    If you select "right away," the blurbs will show up on lenses (almost) immediately after they are posted. If you select "ask me first" you'll need to approve each comment manually, either from the lens or the My Comments tab in your dashboard.
    In this section you can also choose to allow Facebook and Twitter to be integrated into your guestbook, so readers can help promote your lens.
  • Send you an approval email for pending blurbs?
    If you select "yup," you'll receive an email each time a blurb is posted to one of your guestbooks. If you select "nope," you'll need to log in to check for blurbs.
  • Comment following
    Choose whether or not logged in posters can subscribe to follow comments to their comments.
  • How many blurbs per page?
    This just lets you set the number of blurbs that will show at one time. The most recent blurbs will display, but never fear! Older ones can still be accessed and read.
  • Strip all HTML out of blurbs?
    If you're worried about spammers, setting this to "yup" is one way to make sure links don't fill up your guestbook.

So let's say someone leaves you a comment.... 

If you have it set to approve "right away," it will instantly appear on your guestbook like this.

Here's what an email notification looks like. 

If you want us to send an email letting you know you have a new comment, it will look something like this.

Process a blurb on your lens 

You can process a blurb on your lens by clicking on the link to your workshop (if you have it set up to send you email notifications), or by going directly to the workshop (edit page) of your lens.

When you edit the module, you'll see something like this. From here you can approve or decline the message.

Process a blurb from your dashboard 

You can process a blurb from your dashboard by logging into your account, and clicking on the My Comments tab on your dashboard.

You'll see something like this, and from here you can approve or decline the comment, and see which lens it was blurbed on.

Someone post duplicate blurbs?

Not a big deal. Just approve one and delete the other.

Delete a pending blurb 

To delete a pending blurb, click the "decline" button. You'll see this to the right of the blurb on your My Comments tab, or under it if you're editing the guestbook module from your lens.

Delete a post that's already been approved 

If your guestbook has been set to automatically post blurbs, or you've changed your mind, you can delete messages from your lens. (Nope, can't do it from your dashboard.)

Log into your account, go to the edit page for your lens, and click "edit" to manage your guestbook module. Then click "Show Current Blurbs."

There's a "delete" link next to each blurb, so you can delete them at will. But remember, delete is forever.

What happens when you ban a lensmaster? 

You can only ban a lensmaster from posting in your guestbooks if they are logged in. Banning a lensmaster keeps them from ever posting in your guestbooks again, so be sure! If the same lensmaster is banned too many times, he or she will be banned from posting in ANY guestbook on Squidoo.

Your turn! 

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by SquidooKimberly

I'm Kimberly, your Community & Charity Organizer on Squidoo. Check out these lenses for more helpful tips on using your favorite internet service - Sq... (more)

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